The National Retail Federation revised its 2018 economic forecast, saying retail sales are expected to increase by at least 4.5 percent this year compared with 2017 after an earlier forecast saying retail sales would increase 3.8 percent to 4.4 percent, said Jack Kleinhenz, the NRF’s chief economist.

When a lease ran out on a boutique run by Deborah Brosenne, she didn’t want to move out of the Silver Lake/Echo Park neighborhood. So she grabbed a chance to open a store in the area, moving to Sunset Junction by the intersection of Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards in Silver Lake.

Ron Herman has spent his career introducing some of the world’s most famous denim brands from his self-named Ron Herman store, which for decades has been a pioneer in the Los Angeles boutique business.

With a lot more space than its New York City flagship store, which opened in November, luxury consignment company The Real Real opened its first West Coast bricks-and-mortar location on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, Calif.

After a four-year wait, the former Fred Segal retail compound in Santa Monica, Calif., will see construction start in August to transform the former shopping hot spot into a seven-story residential building with commercial space.